1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a system for preventing fully formed loose staples from remaining in the body of a patient. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a staple cartridge for use with a surgical stapling instrument and having structure for retaining and removing fully formed loose staples.
2. Background of Related Art
During certain surgical procedures it is often necessary to staple body tissue in order to join tissue sections or close tubular tissue sections to prevent leakage. This is typically accomplished by the use of a surgical stapling instrument having a staple containing cartridge and an anvil member movably mounted relative to the staple cartridge. Surgical staples are retained within pockets formed in the staple cartridge and blocks or pushers are mounted beneath the staple within the staple pockets. In use, tissue is positioned between the staple cartridge and the anvil and the anvil is moved adjacent the staple cartridge to clamp the tissue therebetween. Upon actuation of the surgical stapling instrument, a drive bar movably mounted within the surgical stapling instrument passes beneath the pushers to move the pushers up within the staple pockets and sequentially eject the surgical staples out of the staple pockets. Tissue penetrating legs of the surgical staples pass through the tissue and are clinched or bent against staple clinching pockets formed in an underside of the anvil to thereby secure the staples to the tissue. Thereafter, the surgical stapling instrument is further actuated to separate the anvil from the staple cartridge thereby releasing the stapled tissue.
In some surgical procedures, the width of the tissue being stapled is less than the length of the staple cartridge and anvil, and specifically less than the length of the rows of staple containing staple pockets, resulting in surgical staples being ejected from the staple pockets and formed into the anvil without passing through tissue. Upon opening the anvil away from the staple cartridge to release the stapled tissue, these “free” or “loose” formed staples may fall away from the staple cartridge and into the body cavity of the patient where they will need to be accounted for and separately retrieved by the surgeon prior to closing the operative site. This requires not only additional time to perform the procedure but also further attention to detail at the end of the procedure to ensure that all free staples are accounted for and not left behind in the body cavity of the patient where they may cause complications.
Further, during manufacture of the staple cartridge itself, variation in tolerances between outside widths of the surgical staples and the inside widths of the staple pockets may leave the staples loosely positioned within the staple pockets. In this situation, the staples are subject to inadvertent complete or partial dislodgment out of the staple pockets during shipping and handling prior to use. This situation may make it difficult or impossible to properly use the staple cartridge with a surgical stapling instrument during a surgical procedure.
Therefore, a need exists for a staple cartridge capable of retaining staples within the staple pockets prior to use. There further exists a need for a staple cartridge which retains staples on the staple cartridge which have been formed against an associated anvil but which have not passed through tissue.